The Samsung PN50A760 is a stylish TV with impressive multimedia features, but its picture looks a bit soft when compared with those of less-expensive competitors.

Plasma HDTVs have always been prized for their excellent picture consistency at wide viewing angles and speedy pixels that ensure superb detail no matter how fast the on-screen action becomes. And for the largest available screen sizes, plasmas often cost less than LCD TVs of similar size. Samsung's 50-inch PN50A760 ($2,799.99 list) is a fully loaded plasma that features terrific picture performance with standard- and high-definition video sources, along with comprehensive multimedia file support and RSS-style widgets. But this slick set loses points for its soft-looking picture and so-so picture contrast.

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Samsung's reddish "touch of color" accents along the outside edges of the PN50A760's frame and base add a bit of subtle eye candy to what would otherwise be your typical glossy black TV finish. A thin strip of curved, edge-lit plastic centered beneath the frame functions as a touch-sensitive power button, and is less of a fingerprint magnet than the embedded power button found on the glossy frames of the company's A950 LCDs. Like Samsung's A650-series plasmas, the set features a rectangular-shaped tempered glass swivel base stand and an updated baton-style remote with large, backlit buttons.

The video connections on the rear and left-hand side of the set are accessible from the front and include four HDMI (one side), two component video inputs, VGA, and an RF input. Unlike the LG 47LG90's digital audio outputs, which support multichannel audio output, the digital audio port provides only up to two-channel (stereo) output for connected audio sources.

There's also a side-mounted USB port so you can play back MP3 and JPEG multimedia files stored on USB-based storage devices. An Ethernet port on the back of the TV lets you connect it to a network to access the Web for customizable on-screen news and weather widgets, along with multimedia content stored on a DLNA-compliant server device or a Windows PC running Samsung's Share Manager software.

With this set, you get a comprehensive set of picture settings. Color management and white-balance controls are useful for professional calibrators, although they lack the precision of similar controls found on the considerably less-expensive Vizio VP505XVT plasma ($1,499.99 list) and recent LG models, including the impressive LG90-series. The Movie picture preset comes closest to accurately reproducing the color and detail standards used in HD video production, but extensive calibration was necessary to improve the preset's nonstandard gamma response, which causes some details to appear too bright or too dark.

The average contrast ratio is a relatively mediocre 861:1, owing primarily to an elevated black level measurement of 0.12 candelas per square meter (cd/m2). The Vizio VP505XVT's darker depiction of video black (0.08cd/m2) produces an improved contrast result of 1,242:1. The almost unmeasurable black level of the Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD (0.01 cd/m2) reigns supreme in the sets I've tested, with a contrast result of 8,809:1. But the color of a TV's screen surface influences apparent picture contrast in bright viewing environments, and the PN50A760 features one of the darkest-looking screens I've seen since Pioneer's KURO panels. Placed alongside the Vizio, the set's much-darker screen gave it an obvious contrast advantage when viewed under average room lighting. The effect was further enhanced when the video source included letterboxing or pillar-bars that revealed more of the screen surface.

Enabling the PN50A760s film mode feature, which detects video material (including most movies and prime-time TV shows) originally captured at 24 frames per second (fps), allowed the set to produce practically perfect scores on the challenging standard- and high-definition versions of the HQV Benchmark tests. Oddly, the Microsoft DVD Test Annex reference disc indicated that the TV was discarding some horizontal detail with 24-fps video material, but I did not notice this loss when viewing a selection of classic DVD movies using 480i component input.

On my tests, benchmark video performance was generally excellent, but picture quality (with all the video sources I tested) appeared noticeably softer than on the Vizio VP505XVT. The two sets were configured as similarly as possible (including sharpness levels and video noise-reduction settings), yet the Vizio consistently produced a clearer, more detailed picture.

The eye-pleasing imagery that endears plasma technology to videophiles comes at the expense of energy efficiency. The PN50A760's estimated operating cost of $7.02 per month (353W average) using default picture settings was almost identical to that of the Pioneer PDP-5020FD (354W average). But use of the Pioneer's Movie picture preset reduced its power consumption by 31 percent (246W average), compared with a below4 percent reduction (340W average) achieved by the Samsung's equivalent preset. Still, both plasma sets consume more energy than LCD HDTVs of similar size.

The Samsung PN50A760 is one of the more stylish plasma televisions I've seen, and it features an impressive set of integrated multimedia capabilities. Although the TV's contrast performance lags behind the competition's, its exceptionally dark screen color gives it an appreciable advantage in well-lit rooms over some other plasmas with greater contrast ratio results don't look as good. The set's soft picture quality, however, may be a deal breaker, especially given its high price. The Editors' Choice 50-inch Vizio VP505XVT represents a much better value.

Samsung PN50A760

Samsung PN50A760

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